Technology News: General

TOKYO (AP) _ Gadget lovers are already camped out at a Tokyo store ahead of the global rollout Friday of the next-generation iPhone.

Computer industry heavyweights are hustling to fix a flaw in the foundation of the Internet that would let hackers control traffic on the World Wide Web.

In the latest expansion beyond its main mission of organising the world's information, Internet search leader Google Inc hopes to orchestrate more virtual socialising on the Web.

By Daisuke Wakabayashi
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp introduced on Wednesday pricing for its suite of online services targeted at corporate customers and a revenue-sharing plan to encourage other companies to sell the software company's products.

Washington, July 8 (ANI): Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have developed a laser system that can safely tell if a suspicious package is an explosive, from up to 100 meters away.

Microsoft Corp said on Monday it would be willing to reopen talks to buy all or part of Yahoo Inc, but only if a new Yahoo board is elected -- a big boost for financier Carl Icahn's board slate.

Melbourne, July 6 (ANI): Though airplanes are inspected on a daily basis, small defects are easily overlooked. Now, scientists have revealed that they are testing a new paint that detects hidden flaws on planes.

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese adventurer Kenichi Horie took more than three months to sail from Hawaii to Japan in a boat powered by the energy of ocean waves, but says he was blessed with good weather and tasty fish.

Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc have been holding separate talks with other potential media partners after their negotiations with each other broke down, sources familiar with the companies' thinking said on Wednesday.

By Lionel Perron
TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian fiddler who is no stranger to controversy has put half his future music earnings up for sale on eBay, the auction website.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) _ A New Zealand man has put his soul up for auction to the highest bidder, noting that it is "a merry old soul" rather than a "funk soul brother" but that he would "would like to think there is a bit of funk in there somewhere.

TOKYO (AP) _ Mobile phones are gradually making land-line telephones a thing of the past in Japan. For the first time, fixed-line telephones accounted for less than half of all calls made in a fiscal year, losing out to mobile units and Internet-based services, a government report said this week. Calls placed from fixed-line phones at home, offices or public phones fell 6.4 percent to 59.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumers who want the new iPhone but cannot or do not want to sign up for a two-year contract with AT&T Inc will eventually be able to buy it for an extra $400.

Washington, July 1 (ANI): Forget fingerprint and iris scanners, the future of automated identification using body parts is in the palm of your hand, at least that's what Fujitsu Computer Products of America wants people to think.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) _ Indonesia's inflation rate climbed to 11 percent after government fuel hikes caused the price of food and other basic goods to skyrocket, the Central Statistics Bureau said Tuesday.

Microsoft Corp plans to cut the price of its best-selling Xbox 360 Pro model by $50, to $299 in the next few weeks, the Hollywood Reporter reported citing anonymous sources.

It may have rattled windows and raised dust, but the blast that toppled a towering symbol of North Korea's atom-bomb project was a mere blip on a world map where more and more states may "go nuclear" or nearly so in the years to come.

Internet regulators on Thursday voted to relax rules on domain names like .com or .edu, which could pave the way for companies or individuals to create an array of new addresses for the Web.

TOKYO (AP) _ Sony outlined its strategy for growth Thursday geared at regaining its lead in TVs, wiping out the red ink in video games and rolling out movie services to woo Net-savvy consumers.

YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) _ Rolling your eyes to turn up the volume of a portable music player and tapping your fingers to turn on a DVD player are among technologies Japan's top mobile carrier is testing for "wearable" gadgets.